Monroeville Restaurant's Business Booms Despite Ban On Kids

In July, McDain's Restaurant started a ban on children younger than 6. The story quickly spread from Monroeville and went viral on the Internet, being featured on CNN and Yahoo!

Four months later, owner Mike Vuick told Channel 4 Action News that he has seen a 20 percent increase in business at his eatery on Broadway Boulevard.

"To go in a positive direction of such a magnitude really surprises me," Vuick said Friday.

An email that was sent to loyal customers earlier this year said, "Beginning July 16, 2011, McDain's Restaurant will no longer admit children under six years of age. We feel that McDain's is not a place for young children. Their volume can't be controlled and many, many times, they have disturbed other customers."

While it cost him some customers who are parents of young children, Vuick said he gained more visitors who empathized with his reasoning at the time: "I think it's the height of being impolite and selfish, and therefore, I instituted a policy."

He said his ratio of positive to negative email feedback has been about 20 to 1 since the ban started.

"People came from as far away as Detroit, Columbus, D.C., identifying themselves as people to congratulate me on the move," Vuick said.

Restaurants cannot ban senior citizens, because they're in a protected class under the law, but there is no law that protects children from being denied service.